Kyle Orton-QB-Purdue-Round 4 2005: Since the early 1990′s, the Green Bay Packers have consistently drafted late-round quarterbacks that have become starters around the NFL (Ty Detmer, Mark Brunell, Aaron Brooks, Matt Hasselbeck, and soon Matt Flynn). Jerry Angelo? Like his attention to the offensive line, there always was little to the backup quarterback position. He [...]

Alex Brown-DE-Florida-Round 4 2002: At face value when this pick was made, this probably looked like what would become a standard Jerry Angelo draft pick (a reach and a failure). Brown was considered by evaluators to have plenty of talent and potential, but he was thought to have been a lazy player in Florida who [...]

Johnny Knox-WR-Abilene Christian-Round 5 2009: Knox was selected with a throw-in fifth round pick that came back to the Bears from Denver in the Jay Cutler trade. Knox seemed to be on the bubble prior to final cuts that season, then had a monster final preseason game. In his rookie year he made the Pro [...]

Nathan Vasher-CB-Texas-Round 4 2004: and Chris Harris (S-Louisana Lafayette-Round 6 2005): Had to go with a combo here. Vasher and Harris were both defensive backs with talent that slipped to Angelo in later rounds of the draft. Both had shining moments (a Pro Bowl for Vasher in 2005, second-team All Pro for Harris in 2010), [...]

Tommie Harris-DT-Oklahoma-Round 1 2004: In Lovie Smith’s first season, the Bears desperately needed a prototypical three-technique defensive tackle since they were switching from Greg Blache’s one-gap system. It seems as if the Bears had some luck when top talent Harris slipped to the Bears’ 14th overall selection. Harris was a stud from the beginning, making [...]

Earl Bennett-WR-Vanderbilt-Round 3 2008: Bennett’s rookie season was spent as a virtual redshirt when he failed to catch a single pass. In 2009 following the arrival of Jay Cutler, he started 15 games and caught 54 passes for 717 yards and two touchdowns. The emergence of Johnny Knox in 2010 moved Bennett to a subordinate [...]

11th Best Draft Pick: J’Marcus Webb-LT-West Texas A&M-Round 7 2010: As of this writing prior to the 2012 season, Webb is a very mediocre starting left tackle. But finding even a mediocre starting left tackle in the draft’s final round is still pretty good. The Bears heavily scouted Webb as a potential sleeper late in [...]

Honorable Mention 1: Mark Anderson-DE-Alabama-Round 5 2006: Anderson merited Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2006 when he finished with 11 sacks as the third defensive end. Thrust into a starting role the following season, Anderson was over-matched and did little until being released by the Bears early in the 2010 season. He bounced [...]

Honorable Mention 2: Henry Melton-DL-Texas-Round 4 2009 This one will depend on whether Melton’s flashes of brilliance continue or regress. Melton was a former running back that was converted to defensive end in college. Drafted as an end, Melton was switched to three-technique tackle in 2010 and began to blossom. The replacement for Tommie Harris [...]

For years following the 1987 firing of General Manager Jerry Vainisi and through Mike McCaskey’s reign of terror as team President, Chicago Bears fans clamored for the team to hire another GM. Current team President Ted Phillips repeatedly denied in 1999 and 2000 that a GM was a part of the organization’s plans. Then following [...]